General Davies

Happy Tails - General Davies

by Jane & Pam

7/4/2011

After losing our beloved Airedale, Dexter, of 12 years, we decided we would rather rescue an Airedale this time instead of going to a breeder again. So, we adopted General, a.k.a. Big G, on November 6, 2010. Thanks to 7 volunteer drivers, he made the 13 hour trek from Kentucky to Pefferlaw, Ontario, Canada. We were the 8th driver, and when we first laid eyes on General, he was terrified and skinny! It was a 3 hour drive home from where we picked him up. Of course trying to convince him that he was going "home" forever and all was going to be ok from now on, was impossible.

A little of what we have found out about his horrid past is; he was approximately 4-6 years old when he was brought into rescue, malnourished, dreadlocked, smelly and very scared. General was purchased as a pup to be a puppymill stud. He lived outdoors in a pen. The person who turned him in wanted him destroyed and said that he was wild. More like scared to death! Fortunately the shelter he was taken to turned him over to ATRA.

He has since put on approximately 10 lbs, been groomed again (since his initial clean-up at rescue). He loves to be groomed and is extremely well behaved when he is being groomed. He adores us and would protect us with his life. He loves his toys, splashing in his doggie pool and his big cushy bed. He has become a typical goofy Airedale. He has regular vet visits, which he is well behaved at. Such a previous life, doesn't come without health issues, and he is getting the best of care. He loves to play with his new brothers and sister, His favorite pal is our 5 year old Wheaten Terrier - Teddy. We have a large fenced yard in rural Ontario, so they have room to have full out runs and chases. He's turned into a huge cuddle-bum as well, doing the standard Airedale pose of sleeping on his back, with his head on your shoulder with your arm around him.

His eating has slowed down as he now realizes he gets fed twice a day, so no need to scarf it down anymore. He has had serious trust issues, no wonder with a past like that!! We are working hard with him to let him know that company is ok. He wants so badly to please us and listens well and tries so hard. He has FINALLY gotten over his fear of the floors. We have no carpeting and for the first several months we had blankets, towels and mats EVERYWHERE just so he could walk across the room. He was terrified of vehicles and noises and taking him for a walk was virtually impossible. We would drive him around the corner to the forest trails where it was nice and peaceful when we first started walking him. He loves it in there. Now he has advanced to walking with the rest of his k9 siblings in "town". It's a very small town with very little traffic, which helps. He still has his frights when a car goes by, but is doing much better. We took him to the lake (which is 5 minutes from home), since he loves his little backyard pool so much, but the BIG lake is another fright, so with time, hopefully he'll love to go swimming as much as the others do. For now he's content in his little pool.

General is an absolute doll. We just love him to death and we will protect him as much as he would protect us.

He even has his own Facebook page with over 240 Airedale (and other Terrier) friends from around the world, where he and the others exchange silly Airedale antics, tips and tears. He's at General-Big G Davies if you would like to join him.

General just wants to say thanks to everyone at ATRA who helped him along the way and found him his furever home. He is such a happy boy now, you can actually see him smile.